


The Other Keith

by WildWolf25



Series: Message in a Bottle Series (prompts from my ship-mate) [1]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Galra Keith (Voltron), M/M, Multiverse Theory, Parallel Universes, alternate reality universe, established relationship (klance), it's not an AU... there just ARE alternate universes out there (if that make sense), no pronouns used for Pidge, questionable magic science
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-13
Updated: 2017-05-13
Packaged: 2018-10-31 07:44:47
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,846
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10894851
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WildWolf25/pseuds/WildWolf25
Summary: After a mishap with a crystal that contains portals to an infinite number of alternate realities, Team Voltron ends up with a very different Keith, who comes from a very different universe.  This Keith just wants to go home, and Lance just wants his boyfriend back.





	The Other Keith

**Author's Note:**

> Way back in August, I was bored and texted shipthepuppy for a writing prompt and a pairing, and she sent back "an AU where Keith trades places with a Keith from an alternate reality because of magic science. Lance POV. The Keith that they get was raised by the Galra empire and is half Galra. If Keith/Lance were a thing before the swap even better" (I scrolled through 9 months of Line messages to get that). I also wrote this well before season 2 aired, back when Galra-Keith was just a fan theory. 
> 
> Little did she know that that would be the first of many times I would ask her for a prompt whilst bored/waiting hours for trains to and from rural places... And thus I decided to put them all together in a series for her. The fics themselves are unrelated. As for the name of the series, it's cuz we're SHIP mates... heehee get it, friendo? ;D *rolls up fic in a bottle and chucks it across the Pacific Ocean*

One day off.  

Just one day.  That’s all Lance was asking for.  Just one day when they didn’t have to battle aliens or robots or even their own castle when it went haywire (granted, that had only happened once, but  _ still _ ).  Lance just wanted a day where he could sleep in and not have to jump into his lion and fight whatever space battle they were fighting that day.  Even better, maybe he and Keith could spend some time with just the two of them, maybe even go on a date.  They had been together for a few weeks now but, between Allura’s grueling training schedule, fighting off Galra ships every few days, and the remarkable lack of romantic places on the castle-ship, they still had not been on an actual  _ date _ .  It was a little hard to bring your boyfriend flowers when flowers simply didn’t exist in space.  

Not that Lance was complaining about what they had, not at all.  The cuddle sessions were great, even if the both of them were covered in bruises from training.  Still, Lance reflected, it would have been nice to really wine and dine Keith.  Lance was willing to admit he was more than a bit of a romantic at heart, and while Keith vehemently insisted that he didn’t have a romantic bone in his body, he did love watching Keith get flustered and red in the face when Lance did something particularly cheesy and romantic.  

“What are you thinking about?”  Keith asked, reaching up to run the tip of his finger over the crease between Lance’s brows.  The two of them were lying on Keith’s bed, arms and legs tangled together under the blanket.  They still had a few minutes before they needed to get up and join the others for morning training.

Lance smiled.  “You blushing.”

Keith blinked in surprise, and there it was; a pink color spread across his cheeks and the tips of his ears.  “Lance, what the hell.”

“What?”  Lance smirked and rubbed Keith’s cheek with his thumb.  “It’s adorable.”  

Keith brushed his hand away and pushed his face into Lance’s chest to hide it.  “Weirdo.”  He muttered, breath tickling Lance’s skin.

“But I’m  _ your  _ weirdo,” Lance grinned, tightening his arm around Keith.

“Ugh, don’t remind me.”  

“Oh shut up, you like me.”  

“Never said I didn’t,” Keith huffed.  “Just that you were a weirdo.”

Lance chuckled and combed his fingers through Keith’s hair, letting his eyes fall closed.  Just one day, that’s all he wanted.  Just one day where he could lay in bed all day, wrapped up in Keith’s arms and holding him…

“Paladins, we have a mission.”  Allura’s voice came on over the castle intercom.  Lance groaned and latched onto Keith as he started to get up.  

“Don’t be over-dramatic.” Keith told him, untangling himself from Lance’s arms.  “Come on, get up.”

“I don’t wanna…” Lance groaned.  Keith sighed and leaned over him, pressing a kiss to his cheek.  Lance turned his head, but the lips were already gone.  He frowned.  “You missed my mouth.”  He pouted.

“You can have that one when we get back from the mission.”  Keith told him, slipping on his shoes.  

“I’m holding you to that.”  Lance said, sitting up.

~~~~~~~

“I’m sorry, can you repeat that?”  Hunk frowned.  “Alternate realities  _ do  _ exist, and the secret to them is in some crystal on this planet?”

“I fail to see why you would like me to repeat that, when you just did yourself,” Allura looked puzzled.  

“You’re saying that the Multiverse Theory is true as casually as if you were talking about the weather!”  Hunk spread his hands.  “How is nobody freaking out about this?!”

“Did Earth not get the memo about there being multiple realities?”  Coran looked confused.

“No!”

“My, I sometimes forget how far behind your species is.”  He stroked his moustache thoughtfully.

“Regardless, we have a very important mission ahead of us.”  Allura went on, ignoring their banter.  “If the Galra get their hands on this crystal, they could use its power to augment their armies with aid from creatures outside of our own universe.  Or, they might decide to expand their reach and simply take over the dimensions one by one.”

“Do you think there might be a universe in which the Galra have been defeated, that we can use to beat them here?”  Shiro asked.  

“An excellent question!”  Coran said.

Everyone was quiet, waiting on him.  He looked around at them all.  “What?  I said it was an excellent question, not that I had an answer.”

“There is no way to know what lies in the other parallel universes.”  Allura said.  “It is far too dangerous to go looking through them; we have no idea what is out there.  The best thing we can do would be to conceal the crystal on a deserted moon so that the Galra are unable to locate it.  They are beginning to encroach on this region’s territory and we cannot risk them stumbling upon it.” 

~~~~~~~

A short while later, the paladins suited up and exited the castle.  Allura insisted that they simply needed to move the crystal onto the castle-ship and that they wouldn’t need the lions.  At least this looked like it would be a pretty easy job, Lance thought.  Get in, move a giant rock that was actually a portal to hundreds of alternate realities, and get out.  Easy as pie, right?

“Remember, any contact with the crystal will cause you to be sucked into a parallel universe, so be careful.”  Allura reminded them.

Well, maybe not easy as pie.  Easy as…  crème brûlée , maybe.  Both had the potential to go up in flames if they went wrong.  

“That’s really not a comforting thought, Princess,” Pidge pointed out, clipping part of the harness together.  They would use the harness to haul the crystal up into the ship to transport it to a safer place. 

“I’m simply alerting you to the danger at hand.”  Allura said.  “If you don’t touch the crystal, you will be fine.”  

“Hear that, Lance?  Don’t touch the crystal.”  Keith told him.  

“Wha-- why are you telling me?!”  

“Because you’re dumb enough to try it.”

“Hey!”

“Knock it off, you two.”  Shiro told them sternly, fixing the other part of the harness into place around the crystal.  

“Uh, guys?  I think we have a problem…” Hunk pointed.  Shriro frowned and squinted at the ship approaching them.

“Galra drones.”  He announced.  “Bayards out.”  

They all drew their weapons and dropped into fighting stances as the drones flew up.  

“Protect the crystal!  See that they don’t get it!”  Allura commanded.  

The paladins launched themselves at the drones.  Luckily, there were not many of them, and Shiro managed to cut his down quickly and go to help Pidge.  Keith spotted a drone charging towards the crystal and lunged for it, swinging his sword.  Lance shot down the drone he was fighting and turned in time to see Keith block a hit from the drone that threw him off balance.  He reached a hand out to steady himself against the crystal…

“ _ KEITH _ !”  Lance shouted, panic gripping his heart.  He didn’t even have time to take one step towards them before a bright purple blast exploded, sending everyone flying backwards.  Lance scrambled up and looked around frantically, blinking spots away from his vision as his ears rang.  One of the remaining drones was lying broken on the ground, and the other had taken off when the explosion happened and could be seen skittering off into the distance.  

Lance spotted a figure lying on the ground next to the still-sparking crystal and ran towards it.  He would recognize that dumb mullet anywhere.  

“Keith!”  Lance dropped to his knees and carefully turned Keith’s body onto his back.  Oh god, what had happened to his skin?  Had the explosion burned him?  His skin was a sickly shade of reddish-purple.  Had the blast been radioactive?

Keith let out a groan and pried one eye open.  Lance felt his heart skip a beat; the irises of his eyes were a bright yellow color, and they seemed to be glowing.  

Keith --  _ was  _ it Keith? -- gasped and sat up quickly, moving as far away from Lance as possible.

“Who are you?”  He growled, pointed eyeteeth flashing in his mouth as he spoke.  “How do you know my name?”  

Lance was bewildered.  “I’m… hey, Keith, it’s me, Lance, I’m your boyfriend,” he reached out to touch his shoulder.

Keith shook his head and scrambled further backwards.  “Stay away from me!  What did you do to me?!”    

“I…” Lance was having trouble thinking.  What had happened to Keith?  Did he hit his head and have amnesia?  Lance turned around and looked for the others.  “Shiro!  Something happened to Keith!”  

“I said, stay  _ away  _ from me!”  Keith kicked some rocks at him as he scrambled further backwards.  

Shiro came running up.  “What happened?”  

“I don’t know,” Lance explained.  “I think he got burnt in the explosion and something happened to his eyes and he doesn’t remember me, Shiro--”

“Calm down,” Shiro put a hand on his shoulder, stopping him.  He crouched down and studied the boy in front of him.  “Keith?”

“How do you know my name?”  Keith hissed.  “Who are you?  Why did you bring me here?  Take me back to Galra!”

They froze and stared at him in shock.  

“That… that’s not our Keith…”  Shiro said slowly.  He straightened up and turned on the communication system in his helmet.  “Princess, exactly what happens if someone touches this crystal?”  

There was silence for a few worrying seconds, then Allura’s voice came on.  “Sorry about that, we were tracking the one drone that got away.”  She said.  “To answer your question, it is unknown exactly what would happen if someone were to touch the crystal, but we believe that whoever it was would be pulled into a parallel universe and would switch places with their counterpart in that universe.”  She paused.  “Why do you ask?”

“Well,” Shiro looked down at the Keith in front of them.  “I think that may have just happened.”

“... _ Quiznak _ .”  

~~~~~~~

Pidge, Hunk, and Shiro finished loading the crystal onto the ship, since Allura insisted that it was too dangerous to leave it be now that the Galra knew it was there.  Meanwhile, Lance was put in charge of keeping an eye on Keith.  Or, Keith’s doppelganger.  Lance had a hard time wrapping his head around this one.  It was eerie, just how much he looked like Keith; his build and the structure of his face were exactly the same under the purple skin.  Even though his eyes were glowing and yellow, they were still the same shape.  He was even wearing the same red and yellow jacket!  

The Keith in front of him scowled.  Ah, that was a familiar expression… “What are you staring at me for?”  It sounded like the same voice Keith had used with Lance when they had first met, before he began to trust him.

“Nothing.”  Lance tore his eyes away from him and looked over at the other paladins, who had just finished loading the crystal onto the ship.  Shiro walked over, eyeing Keith warily.  

“Allura said we should take… um, Keith, onto the ship and try to figure things out there.”  He told Lance.  “We can’t stay here too long, since the Galra know we’re here.”  

“Let them find me,” Keith snarled, backing away.  

“Yeah, not happening.” Lance reached for his arm, ignoring the hiss Keith made at him.  “Come on, up you get.”  He pulled the struggling boy to his feet and steered him towards the ship.  

~~~~~~~

They brought him to the lounge on the ship.  After Allura steered the ship through a wormhole in order to make their path untraceable for any Galra following them, she joined the others.  

“Jeez, that’s so weird,” Pidge said, staring at Keith.  “It really looks like a Galra version of Keith.”   

Keith crossed his arms and drew his shoulders up defensively.  “Would you all stop staring at me?  I already know I’m a freak; you don’t need to point it out.”  

“Well, ‘freak’ might be a bit of a strong word,” Hunk said.  “But you certainly look different than, uh, our Keith.  You know, the one who isn’t Galra.”

“Half.”  Keith muttered, looking away.

“What was that?”  Shiro asked.

“I’m only half Galra.”  Keith told them.  “That’s why I look like this.”  He gestured to his face.  “I have human ears so I have trouble hearing all of Galra sound frequencies, and my eyes are human-like too, so I can’t see in the dark as well as others.  I’m a freak.”  

“Most interesting,” Coran commented.  “I don’t believe I’ve ever encountered a half-Galra individual before.”

“Well, he is from a parallel universe.”  Pidge reminded them.  

“Yeah, and speaking of which, how do we get our Keith back?”  Lance asked.  He looked at the alien in front of them.  “Which parallel universe are you from?  Is there, like, a number system to them or something?  Can we just toss you back to, I don’t know, Universe #45 or something?”

“What the hell?  How should I know?” Keith glared at him.  “I didn’t even know there  _ were _ parallel universes, and now you’re saying I’ve been ripped out of mine and dragged into a different one?”

“So you have no idea how to get back to your universe?”  Lance asked.

“Well, I’m guessing it starts with you letting me go,” Keith replied snidely.  

“Oh sure, that sounds like a great idea….” Lance said sarcastically.  “Yeah, let’s just let a crazy Galra dude from a parallel universe wander around loose on his own.”

“Lance, don’t be rude.”  Shiro told him.  “No one said he was crazy.”  

“He’s part Galra!”  Lance gestured to him.  “And don’t you realize what this means, Shiro?  If we have Galra-Keith, that means our Keith got sent right to the Galra’s doorstep!  He could be their prisoner right now!  He might be being tortured as we speak!”  His voice rose to a shout at the end, betraying how worried he was.  

“The Galra don’t take prisoners.”  Keith muttered.  Lance laughed dryly.  

“Oh, right, I forgot they’re bloodthirsty maniacs, so they probably already killed him!”  Lance felt hysteria rise in his chest.  

Keith looked up at him, yellow eyes wide with puzzlement.  “What are you talking about?  The Galra are a peaceful people.  We don’t take prisoners because everything can be solved diplomatically.”  

Everyone stared at him in shock.  

“Well, that’s alternate reality for you.”  Pidge said, adjusting their glasses.  

Shiro nodded and touched Lance’s shoulder.  “If these Galra are peaceful, it means that our Keith is likely still alive.  All we have to do is figure out how to switch them back.”  

“I’ll search through the castle archives for any information about the crystal.”  Allura said.  “There might be something about a situation like this.”  

“I’ll help you.”  Pidge said, standing up as well.  

“I’ll go stabilize the crystal.”  Coran said.  “Hunk, Shiro, Lance, I’ll need your help to move it to a secure location.  With the four of us, we should be able to lift it.”

“What are we supposed to do with him?”  Lance pointed to Keith.  

Coran looked thoughtful.  “Well, it isn’t like he can leave the ship, and he doesn’t seem to be a threat, exactly.”  He turned to Keith.  “Try to stay out of trouble, and we’ll do our best to figure out how to get you back to your universe.”  

~~~~~~~

After helping Coran move the crystal to a safer location inside the castle-ship, Lance changed out of his armor and wandered back to the lounge.  When the doors opened, his heart skipped a beat as he saw a familiar mullet over the back of the couch.  Disappointment settled heavily in his gut when the figure turned around and he saw purple skin and yellow eyes.  

“I’m surprised you’re still here.”  He commented, walking over to the kitchenette in the corner and getting a glass of water. 

“I don’t really have a reason to leave here.  I don’t know where I am.”  Keith shrugged.  Lance noticed that his hands were clasped in his lap and he was rubbing the thumb of one hand over the joint of his other thumb.  Interesting, so he had the same nervous tic as their Keith.  His yellow eyes looked up and followed Lance’s movements as he sat down on the couch across from him.  “I’m surprised you haven’t locked me up.”

Lance raised an eyebrow.  “Did you want to be locked up?”

“No,” Keith looked down at his hands.  “But you just seem to really hate me.  I figured you would insist on it.” 

Lance released a heavy sigh.  “I don’t hate you.”  He said quietly.  “I just want my Keith back.”  

Silence settled between them, neither knowing what to say.  Lance thought it was strange, seeing Keith look so nervous and vulnerable.  The Keith he knew put up walls when he was feeling anxious, so he had never seen this expression on his face.  He tried to think about this from the perspective of the person in front of him; he had been ripped out of his world and had no idea where he was or how to get home.  He was probably terrified.  Lance felt guilty about yelling at him earlier.  

“You said before that the Galra here are bad?” Keith asked, glancing at him out of the corners of his eyes.  

Lance nodded.  “They’re trying to take over the entire galaxy, and for the past ten-thousand years they’ve had no one trying to stop them, until us.  They’ve killed thousands and enslaved thousands more.”

Keith looked conflicted.  “I can’t believe that.  That’s… The Galra of my world are peaceful.  They serve as diplomatic liaisons between different alien species.  They’re so well-known for it that they’re the only alien race currently allowed to go to Earth.”  He sighed.  “That’s how people like me came about.  Half-Galra and half-Earthling.  Never able to fit in on either planet.”  His tone turned sour.  

Lance could sense his mood getting worse and thought about how he could change the subject.  “Hey, have you ever met a Lance in your world?  Tall guy, brown hair, devastatingly handsome?”  He grinned slyly.  

Keith gave him a flat, unimpressed look.  “If you’re talking about your counterpart, no, I haven’t met him.”  

“Really?”  Lance was surprised.  So there was a universe where he and Keith weren’t together, or had even met?  It was strange and a little scary to think about.  

“I don’t go to Earth very much, though.  If he’s there, it’s not likely that I’ve run into him.”  Keith shrugged.  

Lance was quiet as he thought about it.  “You know, for what it’s worth, I wish the Galra here were more like your Galra.”  He sighed.  “I mean, it won’t ever happen; the only thing that is going to stop them at this point is if we defeat them by force.  But I wish it didn’t have to come to that.”  

~~~~~~~

“So it’s really that easy?  He just has to touch the crystal again, and they’ll swap back?”  Lance asked.

“It would seem so, but we can’t know anything for certain.”  Allura said.  “It’s equally possible that he could simply end up in another of the infinite number of parallel universes.”  

“Still, it looks like the only option we have.”  Pidge added.  

Keith’s hands tightened into fists.  “Alright, let’s try it.”  

“You’re sure about this?”  Allura asked.

Keith nodded.  “I want to go back to my own world, and I’m sure the other Keith wants to get back to this one.”  

They all made their way to the vault where the crystal was being stored and gathered around it, keeping a safe distance in case it caused another explosion.  Keith took a deep breath and stepped closer, his hand outstretched.  

“Wait,” Lance called out.  Keith turned to look at him.  Lance smiled.  “Good luck out there.  And keep an eye out for the other me.”

Keith’s expression warmed and he looked a little less nervous.  He smiled in return.  “Will do.  Tell the other Keith I say hello.”  He turned around and took another deep breath, then reached out and touched the crystal.  

There was a flash of bright purple light, and they all braced themselves against the explosion.  When the smoke cleared, Lance caught a glimpse of Keith --  _ his  _ Keith -- looking shocked before he fell to his knees.  

“Keith!”  Lance ran toward him and dropped to his knees next to him.  

“Lance…” Keith looked around.  “I’m… back?”  

Lance hugged him tightly.  “Yeah, you’re back in our universe.”  He pulled back enough to look at him, searching for any injuries.  “Are you hurt?”  He reached out and brushed a stray lock of hair out of Keith’s face.

“No,” Keith shook his head.  “The Galra there… it was so strange; they didn’t hurt me, they just seemed confused that I was there.  They took me to a room for questioning, but most of it was, like, immigration and customs type questions.  But they didn’t really like ‘sorry I accidentally came through a crystal from a parallel universe’ as a story, though.”

“Your counterpart from that universe was here.  He said that the Galra there are peaceful and diplomatic.”  Hunk explained.  “Oh, and he was half-Galra.”

“What?”  Keith looked confused.  “How?”  

“No idea.  Alternate realities, anything’s possible.”  Hunk said.

“Galra-Keith said to tell you he says hello.”  Pidge added.  

Keith still looked a little dazed.  “This is all so unbelievable.  I’m really back, though?  It’s not just a dream?”

“You’re really back.”  Shiro smiled.  

Keith let out a relieved sigh.  “Then, um, can I get away from this thing?”  He glanced at the crystal, leaning away like it might bite him.      

~~~~~~~

After Coran had listened to his heart, lungs, and head with a very bizarre-looking stethoscope -- “just to make sure you’re okay.  You were exposed to alternate space-time particles, and those can result in a nasty infection if you leave them unchecked, and I wager you’d like to keep your legs” -- Keith was able to get something to eat and then headed back to his room with Lance.

“You’re sure you feel okay?”  Lance asked.  Keith sighed.

“For the last time, yes, I’m fine.”  He said, closing the door behind them.  “I don’t have timey-wimey gangrene or whatever the heck Coran was talking about.”  He took Lance’s hand and steered him over to the bed.  “I am, however, very tired, so if you’d just lay down, I’m going to sleep on you for about twelve hours.”  

“Fine by me.”  Lance grinned, kicking his shoes off.  He laid down, and Keith made himself comfortable with his head on Lance’s chest and one leg thrown over his legs.  Lance tucked an arm around him and ran his fingers through Keith’s thick hair, lightly scratching his scalp.  

“Oh, I almost forgot.”  Keith leaned up and kissed Lance on the lips.  He pulled back and smiled.  “I did promise you that one.”  

Lance grinned.  “Go to sleep, you nerd.”  

**Author's Note:**

> Please let me know if you liked it! I also have a tumblr, wildwolf25.tumblr.com (Still not sure how to add links to these notes...)


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